Andrei Smirnov
(Андрей Смирнов Andrey Smirnov) is a fictional character in the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 anime. Andrei is the son of Sergei Smirnov and serves under the A-Laws during the second season of the series. In Mobile Suit Gundam 00 The Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer, Andrei serves as an ESF-Army MS pilot. Personality & Character Andrei is overall a self-righteous and bitter person, with a life mission to prove he's a better soldier than his father. Both his parents were career HRL soldiers; he grew up holding their ideals about protecting civilians. When Andrei learned his father made a tactical decision that ultimately resulted his mother's death, Andrei would hold a lifelong grudge against his father. He always believed his father's decision was wrong and to prove he could be greater than his father, he also pursued a military career. Unwilling to receive any sort of special treatment, he never once asked for help from his father or the connections that came with his father's reputation. He worked hard to rise within the ranks of the HRL on his own. After the creation of the ESF, he was integrated into the ESF-Army as a MS pilot. After the creation of A-Laws, Andrei was enlisted for his abilities. During his time with A-Laws, Andrei continued to project his feelings through his work, however, he also found a different purpose. Andrei fell in love after meeting Louise Halevy. He thought of her as a true lady and unfit to be a soldier. His curiosity lead him to dig deeper into her past and after reading her profile, specifically the incident in Spain, he realized her damaged psyche and gained a new purpose in his life: to protect Louise. Andrei tried to persuade Louise to be more ladylike, but she refused. When he found out that Louise was emotionally involved with Saji Crossroad, a suspected member of Celestial Being, which caused her great mental anguish, it encouraged Andrei to seek the elimination of Celestial Being. Despite the A-Laws committing inhumane acts, Andrei believed that they could bring about true peace within the Earth Sphere. Only through understanding what it means to be a soldier and that sacrifices are part of their duty, Andrei tries to live up to the ideals of his parents by doing a soldier's duty: protecting the citizens. For the majority of his career spent in the A-Laws Andrei piloted a GN-XIII. He handled himself well against Celestial Being meaning that although he never inflicted great damage on either the Gundams or their mothership he did always manage to leave the battle with his machine only lightly damaged. After his promotion he is assigned an Ahead. After the disunion of A-Laws, he is placed within the ESF Army and given a Commander Type GN-XIV. History Before A-Laws Andrei lived a difficult life of being the son of a devoted soldier. Andrei didn't have much of a relationship with his father and when his mother died, he blamed her death solely on him. Despite resenting his father, he joined the HRL military to become a military officer himself. During the evolution of the world governments, his military status evolved from HRL officer to United Nations Forces officer and finally a Federation officer. Joining A-Laws In the last 3 years since the formation of the Earth Sphere Federation, the A-Laws was formed and Andrei enlisted as part of their elite force. The sudden appearance of Gundams motivated the Federation to recruit military talent to combat the return of Celestial Being. One of Andrei's assignment was to notify Soma Peries that she was transferred into the A-Laws. Jail Break Andrei, Soma, and investigators went to the anti-government detention facility to interrogate Allelujah Haptism. Little was achieved and while walking in the hallway, Celestial Being attacks. Andrei engaged Katharon rebels as they stormed the facility to rescue their brothers. While fighting, he lost sight of Soma and went to look for her. When he found her, she was on the floor in pain with Allelujah Haptism standing near her. He immediately fired upon Allelujah and tried to arrest him. Andrei couldn't shoot Allelujah down and ran for it when Gundam Arios activated. Against Celestial Being When Louise was heading towards Celestial Being's flagship, Andrei would get emotional and make calls to help her at his own risk and follows and inform Barrack about it. He manages to save Louise from being killed when the flagship's GN missile was about to destroy her unit and subsequently orders her to get away. In the battle against Celestial Being in Lagrange 3, Andrei, Louise, and Barrack fought against the 00 Gundam, until the arrival of the 0 Raiser. After the two units dock and Barrack is killed, Andrei suddenly starts hearing voices. Among these voices he hears Louise's reaching out to the 00 Gundam pilot and realizes that the pilot is someone she knows. Andrei later confronts Louise about it, but she denies it. He tries to convince her she shouldn't be in the A-Laws, but she then hurts his arm and walks away. Break Pillar After Memento Mori is used on the orbital elevator beginning the auto-purge sequence raining debris down on the Earth, A-Laws mobile suits under the command of Mannequin rushed to the site and, to the disbelief of most actually, began helping to destroy the falling debris. As they do this Andrei declares that he would not be like his father and not leave people to their fate. As the coup d’état is taking place in the AEU's orbital elevator, Andrei tells Louise that Pang Hercule is the man responsible for this. Louise however didn't care who it was or what their reasons were. Andrei thinks back on what Pang said to him when he entered the HRL's service academy about his mother on how she wanted peace, and believes that half-hearted determination will not lead to peace, and wonders why Hercule doesn’t understand that A-Laws’s power is necessary. After the debris of the destroyed Orbital Elevator were destroyed, Andrei immediately begun his assault against the coup forces by killing Hercule. A furious Andrei killed his father Sergei. Refusing to listen to what Sergei has to say, Andrei kept on attacking him until he pierced his suit. As Sergei's suit begins to be destroyed, he hears an apology from his father which he receives angrily. Sergei pushes his son’s mobile suit away from his own to prevent him from getting caught in the explosion. For killing the leader of the coup d'état Andrei received a promotion to First Lieutenant and earned the right to pilot an Ahead, although it appears that Andrei's superiors kept up the illusion that his father Sergei was a member, and a leader, of the coup and not the negotiator sent in to convince Hercule to stand down. Post-Break Pillar Four months after Break Pillar, the A-Laws were mercilessly hunting down Katharon and Celestial Being, having been granted complete control over the Federation Army. During one battle with the latter, Andrei and Louise beared down on Ptolemy 2, disguised as asteroids. However, their approach was noticed, as Celestial Being had recognized the trick from a previous battle. Then suddenly, 00 Raiser sped towards them, a voice calling towards Louise, grappling her suit. Confused by the weird phenomenon, Andrei pulled his comrade away from the 00 Gundam, refusing to let them have her. Then out of nowhere, another suit came at him, with a familiar voice; Soma Peries, who was in fact alive, having stayed with Celestial Being and had witness Andrei's killing of his own father. Regardless, Andrei deemed her a traitor too but had no choice but to flee as one of the A-Laws licensed officers was captured. Travel to Eclipse Soon after a failed mission performed by the Innovators, Mr. Bushido and Louise were assigned to head to L5 Eclipse colony. Andrei opted to go, to look after Louise; Mr. Bushido didn't object but wonders if his suit could keep up. Andrei got permission to follow Mr. Bushido and Louise. He arrived just in time to see Louise/Regnant destroy the Gundam Throne Drei, the very Gundam that killed her family four years ago. He became concerned when he heard Louise laughing like a child, wanting her parents to thank her for avenging them. Battle at L2 Ever attached to Louise, he followed her and the Innovators to their hidden base Celestial Being , located at the dark side of the Moon. From there, the massive colony ship obliterated the A-Laws fleet, engaged in battle with the Gundams, Katharon and the Federation coup d'état faction, as a show of its power. The latter then charged into the fray, to recapture Veda. Andrei/Ahead, along with Louise/Regnant, attempted to engage 00 Raiser. Andrei was knocked aside, infuriating Louise. He overheard the communications between the two suits, as Louise's insanity grew even stronger. Realizing that the man named Saji was aboard that Gundam, Andrei became furious, blaming him for Louise's problems, and attacked the Gundam, only to had his suit critically damaged and knocked out of the battle. When 00 Raiser unleashes a massive flow of GN particles around the battlefield, Andrei heard Soma's voice, back in her Marie persona, unwilling to forgive him for killing his father but expressed that his father would not be happy if she hates him. He refused to even speak to a traitor or even speak about one. He stated that his father allowed his mother to die and never said anything to him. Soma/Marie asks why Andrei never attempted to understand his father. Andrei yells in frustration of his inability to understand his father. Aftermath After the defeat of A-Laws, Andrei has returned to being a normal soldier and has been put in charge of disaster relief, vowing to live on as a soldier like his parents, protect the citizens, and fight against those who threaten peace. ELS War Space Station Interception Two years passed by and Andrei still served with the army. Andrei was presumably promoted to Commander and was given his own commander type GNX-803T GN-XIV outfitted with a long beam rifle and buster sword. He was part of a MS squadron composed of GNX-803T GN-XIV sent to intercept the derelict Jupiter exploration ship Europa, which was on course for Earth. But no matter how many particle beams or GN Missiles were fired at it, the large ship simply absorbed the shots, until Captain Descartes Shaman sortied in the GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza. Shaman launched a flurry of Fangs that tore the Europa apart before finishing it off with a powerful particle beam. Andrei watched in awe of the power of a true Innovator. Unbeknownst to everyone, the Europa was infected by an alien lifeform later dubbed Extraterrestrial Living-metal Shape-shifter (ELS). Sacrifice for Earth Andrei battled against the ELS with his GN-XIV after the ELS threatened the well-being of mankind. Before launching, he remarked that the fighting odds had been 10,000 to 1 against them, and the situation couldn't get any more worse. However, he's resolved to protect the citizens that his parents died fighting for. In the final battle, he fights valiantly against an ELS GN-XIV and defeats the enemy, but the right arm of his GN-XIV is assimilated along with his beam rifle. He uses his GN Buster Sword to cut off the arm, destroying it soon afterwards with his GN Vulcans, and discovers an ELS carrier heading towards Earth. Activating Trans-Am, he slices the carrier a few times before a part of his suit is assimilated. He, along with a few of his comrades in GN-XIVs, then proceed to overload their GN Drive Taus with Trans-Am, and destroys the ELS carrier along with themselves and their MS. Relationships Human Reform League ;Holly Smirnov Earth Sphere Federation ;Sergei Smirnov :After the death of his mother, Andrei grew resentful towards his father. He abandoned ties with him and joined the military without his knowledge. He blames his father for his mother's death, and his hate ends up causing him to kill his father during the coup d'etat. Towards the end of season two, he struggles with his choice to kill his father and breaks down when confronted about it by Soma Peries. He eventually comes to terms with his feelings towards Sergei, shown by mentioning his father alongside his mother as the reason he continued being a soldier in the epilogue. ;Hank Hercule :Hank Hercule allowed Andrei to enter the military academy without using his father's resources, and develops respect for him. During the coup d'etat, he is shocked to see Hank Hercule as the leader of the coup and kills him. A-Laws ;Soma Peries :His relation with Soma Peries remained initially professional and later a somewhat personal level. He took Soma Peries into the A-Laws and openly confided to her his feelings towards his father. ;Louise Halevy :Andrei developed an instant attraction to Louise as he sees her as a lady and not a soldier. During battles, he would get emotional and make calls to help her at his own risk. Unfortunate for Andrei, her heart has always been with Saji Crossroad, Ironically when Andrei was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and had a conversation with Louise, Hiling Care was lurking through the corridors of the ship and overheard their conversation and commented loudly that the both of them were perfect for each other as the both of them were avenging the deaths' of their loved ones. Gallery 35a.png|With A-Laws pilot suit on c16.png|Andrei with the E.S.F Army Andrei Smirnov Post Funeral.jpg|Andrei (A.D. 2289) Andrei SMirnov.png|Andrei (A.D. 2312) Akdjmaiden.jpg|Andrei meeting Louise Halevy for the first time (S2 Novel 1) Aafstdb.jpg|Andrei killing his father, Sergei (S2 Novel 3) Andrei2314.jpg|Andrei (A.D. 2314) Andrei as ESF Army Soldier.jpg References External links *Andrei Smirnov on Wikipedia Category:Deceased